1. Technical Field
The invention relates to displaying fashion accessories. More particularly, the invention relates to the convenient hanging and displaying of shoelaces. Specifically, the invention enables customers in a retail setting to browse hanging shoelaces on display without tangling the shoelaces or opening the package.
2. Background Information
While shoelaces used to be solely a utility for holding shoes tight to a user's foot, they have become a fashion unto themselves in recent years. The standard white and black laces have been supplemented with all colors of the rainbow and patterns ranging from professional sports team emblems to cartoon characters. With this newly emerging fashion area come opportunities for retailers to increase sales. Due to the long, string-like nature of shoelaces, consumer-friendly displays are difficult. Non-packaged shoelaces are difficult to keep organized and presentable, and ultimately hard to sell.
Traditionally, fashion shoelaces are displayed in a tree-shaped stand, with “branches” holding laces looped at approximately half the length. However, this structure leads to laces getting tangled from users viewing and returning the laces to the branch. Another example of non-packaged shoelace displays are the “bin”, where all the various shoelaces are placed and it's up to the user to pick through the bin and find the desired pattern. This takes a significant amount of time that a busy consumer is unlikely to spend, which leads to a missed opportunity for a sale.
Opaque and closed containers or boxes are undesirable for shoelace packaging because the customer can't see what pattern is being purchased. Users want to pick a design that makes a statement or shows off a particular personality. Transparent windows are used in packaging to show the user which pattern of laces the package contains. The disadvantages of this approach are that it eliminates the ability of the user to quickly shuffle through patterns, as well as denying a user the sense of touching the item. When shoelaces are folded and placed in a tube-shaped label, the label often slips off and leaves the user in confusion over the size and price. This leads to missed sales for the retailer.
Thus, the need exists for an improved package for displaying shoelaces which holds the shoelaces in a secure position when suspended from a display rack, yet which enables the logos and colors of the shoelaces to be readily viewed by a prospective purchaser.